Train station ticket office closures will benefit passengers, claims rail minister

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Hopefully it’s a more rewarding job for staff as well.” The minister said only 12 per cent of ticket sales are made through the just under 1,000 ticket offices in Britain. Because most passengers book either online or they’ll go and use the machines.” The Labour MP, Ruth Cadbury, said: “The 12 per cent of passengers who are currently using ticket offices are more likely to be occasional travellers and tourists, more likely to have disabilities, more likely to be cash buyers, more likely to have children in tow. “So if you’re insisting on ticket office closures across the board, will you expect to guarantee that there’s at least the same level of staffing provision, and hours of operation, of that human contact at those stations?” Mr Merriman said: “Our starting point is that we’ll look to replicate what’s there in place already, and then what staffing is actually needed. “There has been opposition expressed from across the political spectrum and the government should see sense and scrap these damaging proposals.” Another Labour member of the Transport Select Committee, Grahame Morris, said: “Sometimes, if you buy your ticket from one of the automated ticket machines, you don’t get the cheapest tickets.